


Caught in orbit

by Figsandpigs



Category: Aquaman (2018)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Headaches & Migraines, Mera is bound by duty, but arthur doesn't like it, tired!arthur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-09-24 13:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17101364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Figsandpigs/pseuds/Figsandpigs
Summary: Facing the insurmountable odds of sleep exhaustion since he isn't able to sleep underwater. Arthur must deal with the council wanting him to have an arranged marriage. And the fact the Mera isn't on his list of prospects just doesn't sit right with him.





	1. Breakfast proposals

**Author's Note:**

> So I love Aquaman, and these two together. This has not been beta read even though I'm sure it desperately needs it. The next update will be in a few days. Please enjoy.

Arthur still wasn’t used to living full time under the water. It was hardest for him at night, he would try and sleep finding the constant weightlessness difference to the heavy warm blankets in his father home, and it just felt wrong to him. His chambers also felt wrong to him. Their massive expansive rooms that were only for him often left Arthur feeling lonely. He had gotten beyond comparing everything about life under the sea to his life above it. It was hard for him to stop however when it all seemed to be in stark contrast. 

The only thing that made the nights bearable was knowing in the mornings he would wake up and be able to make his way and have breakfast with Mera… and Vulko. Sometimes his mother was there as well, though anymore her life was once again tied to his fathers. In the begging, he had to sit through never-ending talk of informing him about ocean politics. A subject that drove him mad to no end, which he did not want to discuss. They fought him about that including, his mother. So being the true king, he was he compromised with them, political talk over breakfast was only allowed twice a week. 

Swimming into the breakfast room Arthur still looked unkept. His hair knotted in certain places, a tried look. He wasn’t wearing the proper regalia of King, just a casual shirt that like all Atlantean clothes was molded to his form making swimming as efficient as possible. 

Arthur was shocked that he was the first one in the room since it was such a rare occurrence. He was absently eating staring out the window that looked over Atlantis. Watching people in speeders go about their morning commute. It was in this that Vulko and Mera entered the room. Arthur turned to the new source of interest and flashed a smile but didn’t have the energy for much more. 

He really didn’t sleep well here. Every few weeks he would go to visit his father and get a few good nights of real sleep that rejuvenated him. The work he did as king was more rigorous than he ever anticipated, he had to train more than ever which exhausted him physically, and then politics made his head spin putting him in mental exhaustion. The emotional things that Mera put Arthur through didn’t help anything either. 

“Good morning Arthur,” Vulko said sitting to his left. Arthur gave a grunt of acknowledgment and a nod in return. “How are you today, my king?” He tried again, but Arthur wasn’t giving him anything more. 

Vulko sighed, and Arthur briefly considered the aging vizier. Age moved differently for Atlanteans, but the weariness was showing in his bones clearly to Arthur. The conflict between Orm and himself hadn’t been easy on anyone sitting at the table, or anyone in the ocean kingdoms at all. Arthur returned his gaze out the window absentmindedly thinking he might be able to go home early and catch some sleep if he rushed through his duties for the next day or two. 

“I want to get through as much as I can today.” He finally announced stealing himself to be a real person for the day. He followed his words by tying his knotted hair back not wanting to deal with it until later. 

 

Vulko was staring hard at Mera, and neither of them sparred him a glance. “Is today not Wednesday?” He asked raising his scarred eyebrow glancing back and forth between them.

“We have important things to talk about today Arthur. Things that shouldn’t be rushed," Vulko said. 

“Things can be done quickly and right. You taught me that Vulko.”

“In battle is different than the delicate dance of politics.”

Mera still had yet to say anything. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been delicate in my whole life.” 

He turned to Mera then expecting one of her usual witty remarks. Instead, she had taken up his previous hobby of staring out a window, and as always he suddenly found himself caught in Mera’s orbit. Drawn to her like the fish of the deep to an Anglerfish. Her red hair enchanted him, her facial expressions showed him the whole ocean but still left him closed off. The desire to see her smile always present but even more persistent when he found himself in a moment like this. Moments where she was closed off not looking at him, ready to reprimand him for being an idiot. Something was wrong today. 

 

“You aren’t a boy anymore.” Vulko bit back, and Arthur came to the sudden realization that both of them were in a terrible mood today. He was too tired for this.

“It’s true you are no boy, my king,” Mera said finally adding to the conversation. 

Arthurs' eyes snapped to look at her again, it was sporadic that Mera would address him with that degree of formality. He ran through a quick list of his recent activities trying to decide if any of them warranted the cold shoulder he was receiving. 

“I think it’s clear by looking at me I’m not a kid,” Arthur finally replied. 

“Physical appearance isn’t just what makes a man,” Vulko reasoned. 

“It’s time you marry,” Mera finally said her eyes flashing to his for a moment and then immediately down at her plate. 

Arthur spluttered, blinking rapidly not sure he had heard clearly. “I’m sorry what?” 

“The council has selected plenty of suitable candidates,” Mera continued on ignoring him. 

“Princess Mera,” Vulko said in a warning voice, and Arthur realized the vizier was in on this conversation and knew what Mera was bringing to the table. 

The screen that was embedded in the middle of the table lit up projecting around twelve women who were the suitable candidates the council had selected. The very first thing that Arthur noticed was that Mera herself was not part of it. 

“No,” Arthur said, he reached for Mera’s hand that was sitting on top of the table, but she immediately retracted it before his skin could brush hers.

“A queen will help you rule and bring stability to the ocean,” Vulko said. Arthur's migraine only got worse because all that comment did was remind him of the bullshit that if he were good enough, his mother would visit which this same man fed him as a child. 

“A partner in all things is what she should be,” Mera continued on. 

The frown on Arthurs face only deepened hearing that from her. He already thought he had a partner in this all; in accepting that they lived in one world, not two. 

“No,” he said again louder. Mera still wouldn’t look at him. 

They continued to talk, and suddenly it was all too much for Arthur. He put his hand against his forehead the pounding there making him feel like he had just gone toe-to-toe with Superman. As the pounding became external, he opened his eyes to see that a huge great white shark was banging against the glass. Flashes of a childhood in an aquarium made appearances through the black that his migraine was causing him. 

Before Mera or Vulko could scold him, and before Arthur could explain that he didn’t summon the shark to him with his abilities or the legendary trident the glass shattered and the shark which didn’t really fit into the room rushed forward. 

The animal nuzzled Arthur in the best way that it could first, its pointed nose rubbing him over. The action forced Arthur to stop craddeling his head and turn his attention outward once again. 

“Hey, it’s okay buddy,” Arthur cooed softly. Actively using his powers now, he tried to comfort the great white rubbing it softly as he did. Another blinding flash pulsed through him, and he fell down to his knees against the floor. Forcing the shark on high alert again she snapped wiggling in the room she didn’t fit trying to access the threat to her king. 

When she found nothing Arthur was gently grabbed, he realized by the shark. He tried to push her off but couldn’t find the energy. He opened his eyes and stared at Mera: her eyes were glowing, and he realized that she was about to use her abilities. He looked beyond the Princess trained in battle tried to see the face behind that and see the women who he cared for. In that women, he saw fear. 

Arthur couldn’t let anyone be hurt though, the shark or Mera. So from somewhere within himself, he found the energy struggling in the shark's grip enough that the only option was to bite harder or let him go. 

“Enough,” he said in a harsh voice. He wasn’t sure of who he was talking to Mera or the shark, but Arthur was let go, and he saw Mera deactivate her powers. He was floating in the open water above the city and his eyes caught Vulko’s right before he blacked out and dropped through the water as swiftly as an anchor fell at a port.


	2. Eggs and Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur has a harsh talk with his parents.

Arthur felt like he couldn’t breathe. He was spluttering the heaviness in his lungs no longer right forcing him to cough harshly. Hands gripped his arm helping him turn to the side, and the water in his lungs rushed to the exit with the contractions of his diaphragm. Arthur didn't need anything else to clue him in that he had been brought onto land in a way which didn’t allow his lungs to adjust naturally as they should have. 

The next time he was lucid he felt cocooned in softness. Arthur's eyes cracked open only to immediately shut again. The harsh glittering light reflecting into his eyes made him groan. 

He was shushed softly and felt a cold hand drag over his face pushing hair away.

"Mera?" he tried to say his arm fight the blanket he was wrapped in. 

"Not this time I'm afraid."

Arthur finally freed his arm and shaded his eyes gazing at the white blonde hair of his mother. With squinted eyes, he glanced around the room and recognized the room of his childhood. A room that soon after puberty he didn’t seem to fit in right. A fact that still hadn’t changed with his massive form barley on the bed.

“Mom,” he sighed softly and with the hand that he had been using to shade his eyes he took her hand in his squeezing it. 

“My sweet boy what did you do this time?”

“I’m not entirely sure how did I get here?” Arthurs memories were hazy and most. He remembered being at breakfast and Mera, the shark, marriage talk. Then nothing. 

“Three commandos carried you through my door completely unconscious,” Atlanna said in a scolding tone. It was still an adjustment for Arthur to hear her talk to him like that. To hear his mother talk to him at all was a blessing. The fact that he now had the opportunity to know what emotions the different inflections of her voice meant was something he had never imagined. 

Groaning again he sat up straight leaning against the wall his body feeling heavy and sore. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, get dressed your father is making breakfast.” Atlanna kissed his forehead softly and stood, leaving his room. 

It took Arthur some time to pull himself from the bed and pull on a shirt. His head still pounded occasionally, but after the forced sleep he was put through is was a little better. Black spots no longer trickled at the edge of his vision. 

He stumbled down the stairs, and the smell of bacon assaulted his nose. Both his father and mother were sitting at the table. Tom was reading the paper and sipping coffee while Atlanna was eating slowly clearly waiting for him. 

The domesticity of the moment causing an ache to be in his chest. A place that had been hallow for so long the new fullness was sometimes more painful. He sat down across from his father at the small table, Atlanna between them. 

His plate had been dished up full of food with a generous glass of orange juice on the side. He picked up the glass and took a long drink. The cool citrus juice provided much need relief for the burning in his throat. 

One the glass was drained he sat back in his chair and sighed finally meeting his mother's gaze. 

“I talked with Mera when you were brought here,” Atlanna started the conversation. 

“Did she tell you what she wants me to do?” He asked trying to contain his frustration with the situation. 

There was a long pause where Arthur and Atlanna held each other’s gaze neither blinking. Tom was the one to finally break the silence folding up his paper and setting it on the table.

“She did tell us.”

“The council’s proposal is more than fair Arthur,” Atlanna added. 

“We are also worried that you passed out and had to be carried here,” Tom reached across the table and gripped his son's arm staring into his eyes. “What’s been going on?” 

It was smart for Tom to deflect so quickly before the force of Arthur’s anger could rise. 

“What can I say there is a lot of work in being a king and little sleep to accompany it.” 

“You need sleep.”

“I get some when I can, and no mother I do not think the councils offer is fair. I also am not sure I’m ready to be married.” 

“You have a duty to your kingdom now Arthur it’s not just you being a lone lionfish any longer. And the truth is despite your father and I’s best effort to prepare you to be king you didn’t grow up in the ocean, and you don’t understand some of the delicate politics like you need to.”

“Maybe you can just meet the women see if anything clicks,” Tom said as always trying to be natural waters for them to wade into. 

“This whole thing started with an arranged marriage,” Arthur said his voice raising involuntarily as he poked his fork towards his mother and suddenly missed the warm and comfortable grip of his Trident. “Yours.” 

“That was different,” Atlanna said her own fork being dropped heavily against the plate. 

“How was it different?” Arthur said dropping his own fork now. “You were being forced into a marriage and ran away. No, I’m being forced into a marriage and you just want me to be okay with it?”

“You don’t even know what you’re saying Arthur.” 

“I think I do,”

“No! I didn’t have a choice, and I had no power in the situation. I was a woman on the throne who had no rights. You are not in the same situation.” Atlanna’s voice was raised, almost yelling. Her pale cheeks flushed and her breath was labored from expelling so much air. 

“Fine,” Arthur said back his own voice raising. “Then you are expecting me to put someone else in the same situation you were!” The headache he had a moments reprise from was back and pounding against his forehead. 

“Arthur, Atlanna,” Tom said glaring at both of them. 

Arthur was already standing though pushing his chair back causing it to scrape against the floor. He picked up his plate and glass however since his father raised him right and deposited them into the sink. 

“I’m going back home,” Arthur said making his way to the door, though in that moment he wasn’t entirely sure where home was. 

“You can’t run away from your problems,” Tom said intercepting him before he could leave and set a heavy hand on his shoulder. 

Shrugging his father off Arthur turned away and pushed through the doorway. “I’m not,” he said. However, he didn’t make eye contact with either of his parents as he swung himself into his truck and turned the key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but I already have the next chapter done I just need to edit it.


End file.
